I am literally going crazy and cannot make my mind one which one of these to choose. I would like to ask all of you who are using/used Synology or Qnap to assist me here with this decision. What are the +/- of each and which one would you recommend and why?

The reason I cannot make my mind is that they are very similar based on spec and price wise i don't have a problem, I know it would pay off in long run. My main usage will be:

1. to back up my laptops (Windows and Mac)
2. Have a itunes library that i can stream anywhere (mobile, PS3, etc.)
3. Store my photos and being able to share them with anyone over the internet
4. store my videos/movies and being able to share them over the internet
5. store my files and being able to access them anywhere with any device
6. Optional: run a tiny web server

I know both of those devices offer all of them in one form or another and that is why it's hard to decide. Help me out and it's much appreciated.

If you think that any other Model is more suited for my need, please do mention it.

Works like a charm. For me the greatest advantage od Synology is their hybrid raid. Through the years I've accumulated quite a few external USB drives of different brands and capacity. With SHR it was no problem to take the disks out, put them in the NAS and get the maximum capacity.

Also it is no problem to upgrade the capacity on the fly by replacing disks.

Thanks TRMC13, I know I said budget is not an issue but that is way too much for me

Quote:

Originally Posted by 537635

+1 for Synology 1812+.

Works like a charm. For me the greatest advantage od Synology is their hybrid raid. Through the years I've accumulated quite a few external USB drives of different brands and capacity. With SHR it was no problem to take the disks out, put them in the NAS and get the maximum capacity.

Also it is no problem to upgrade the capacity on the fly by replacing disks.

537635, Thank you for your input. Really helps when making big decisions about what to buy.

Quote:

Originally Posted by harry454

I have to add to the Synology! Just got a ds413j last week and love it, after researching various time, the Synology appears to have better customer service as well as very reliable with Mac's!

harry454, I also looked into the DS413J but the memory(RAM) and the processor looked a bit slow for me, also in their forum I read many, many issues with the speed of this specific model, that is why i backed away from that model. Thanks!

Another vote for Synology here. Had a 5 bay for a few years and never had any issues whatsoever. Fast and quiet.
Have a few videos on Synology equipment - software and hardware - in my YouTube channel for you to check out if you still need convincing

Another vote for Synology here. Had a 5 bay for a few years and never had any issues whatsoever. Fast and quiet.
Have a few videos on Synology equipment - software and hardware - in my YouTube channel for you to check out if you still need convincing

Have a QNAP TS-459 Pro a couple of years now. Happy with it, fulfills my needs (TM backup, remote access, streaming to ATV, centralized storage for my household). Dunno about Synology. They are more expensive I've heard. My QNAP has performed flawlessly since day one. You need gigabit ethernet though, else it sucks in terms of transfer, regardless of brand. Running mine with 4 x 2TB disks in RAID5. It has all the options you seek (as far as I can tell). It's a matter of taste really. You'll be quite pleased no matter which one you choose.

I've have a Synology DS211 and its been super dependable. I use it to store Bluray images and PC backups, webserver, and surveillance camera recording. I'm a new Mac mini owner and haven't used Time Machine with it yet, but I know it supports it. It will do everything you want to do. I'm sure the QNAP boxes are nice too and you probably can't go wrong with one of those either. I'll be upgrading to a unit with 4 or more bays next and staying in the Synology family. Best of luck with your decision.

I've owned 2 QNAP devices, a TS-409 Pro Turbo II and a TS-439+, and I've had nothing with problems with them. Both would choke on large file transfers and would eventually disappear from the Finder. Admittedly, I am not a techie, so I found the QNAP UI, at times, cryptic.

I purchased a Synolgy DS-412+ recently and I absolutely love it! It is fast, quiet and reliable. I can easily transfer large files to and from the NAS without any problems and it has never needed a reboot or disappeared from the Finder. The UI is also excellent!

Have a QNAP TS-459 Pro a couple of years now. Happy with it, fulfills my needs (TM backup, remote access, streaming to ATV, centralized storage for my household). Dunno about Synology. They are more expensive I've heard. My QNAP has performed flawlessly since day one. You need gigabit ethernet though, else it sucks in terms of transfer, regardless of brand. Running mine with 4 x 2TB disks in RAID5. It has all the options you seek (as far as I can tell). It's a matter of taste really. You'll be quite pleased no matter which one you choose.

Mactabulous,

Thanks for your input.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vinculum

I've have a Synology DS211 and its been super dependable. I use it to store Bluray images and PC backups, webserver, and surveillance camera recording. I'm a new Mac mini owner and haven't used Time Machine with it yet, but I know it supports it. It will do everything you want to do. I'm sure the QNAP boxes are nice too and you probably can't go wrong with one of those either. I'll be upgrading to a unit with 4 or more bays next and staying in the Synology family. Best of luck with your decision.

Vinculum,

Thanks, I just purchased a new DS413J (4-bay) and can't wait to get my hands on it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by = bluntman =

I've owned 2 QNAP devices, a TS-409 Pro Turbo II and a TS-439+, and I've had nothing with problems with them. Both would choke on large file transfers and would eventually disappear from the Finder. Admittedly, I am not a techie, so I found the QNAP UI, at times, cryptic.

I purchased a Synolgy DS-412+ recently and I absolutely love it! It is fast, quiet and reliable. I can easily transfer large files to and from the NAS without any problems and it has never needed a reboot or disappeared from the Finder. The UI is also excellent!

Bluntman,

I too heard alot about Synology, not just here in Macrumors, but many other sites. Eventually today decided to go with the DS413J model as it looked to meet my needs. Thanks for your input.

So, I've been using my Synology DS413J for almost a week now and i cannot express how happy i am with this product. Installation was a breeze, set up was a breeze, although, I am still learning how to make most of it. It is full of features and so many options, I need to work for it for a good month to be able to find my way around menus. Oh and I'm hosting my own site on my Synology, I stopped paying for hosting

I have a rMBP with only 256GB SSD. Therfor, I keep all my photos, music and movies on the NAS. When I'm not at home, I connect via WebDAV and I can normally browse in Finder, as if it was a local disk.

So for backups:

1. I do an rsync of my home folder once a week from rMBP->Synology.
2. As I have all my other data on the NAS, I have it set to backup the most important stuff once a week to a different folder. It might seem illogical to backup to the same device, but this is in case I delete something accidentally.
3. Once a month when I'm at my parents' house, I do an rsync:
rsync home folder -> external USB disk
rsync my NAS data -> external USB disk
4. Once every six months I backup all the most important data on a separate USB hard disk.

I am just wondering if you had an update on the Synology DS413J now that you have been using it for a few months.

Dear lfbarbieri,

I could've not been happier. First of all, Synology's Cloud station as they call it, is an amazing feature. I stopped using the TimeMachine's backup feature because I can sync only the things I want to be backed up with my Synology using this cloud station featue.

I have also downloaded the synology's iphone apps, which are amazing. I use their audio app to listen to my music on my iPhone basically anywhere.

I use the photo app to sync my pictures from my phone to my diskstation and also view the ones i have transferred to my diskstation.

i use their file app to manage my college documents.

I keep it on 24/7 and it's in my bed room, it makes absolutely no noise.

Like i mentioned earlier, I also host my static portfolio webpages, with my domain pointing to my diskstation, It's been more than 3-4 months and I haven't paid a dime for hosting and it works perfectly for my needs.

I also share files with friends and they can download them directly from my diskstation with out any issues whatsoever.

However, I have not figured out how to make my diskstation reachable on my tv. it says that it is DLNA capable but I havent been able to link it to my Samsung tv but what i do is stream it via my MBA.

Synology's DSM version 4.2 is in beta stage and will add new features when it's released and will make my diskstation more functional, can't wait to see what else i can do.

Finally looking into getting a Raid for backing up our various websites and production files. We currently just backup to a simple Hitachi 4Tb. I went down to the shops to take a look and the Synology ones were really expensive compared to various USB/NAS enclosures or even the WD Duos (non-TB).

Is there a reason why Synology is so popular/recommended?

We're thinking of just getting the WD Studio/Book DUO (the one with FW) because it looks like everything else is a huge hassle. Should we?

I am looking for a NAS to back up all my video files but also have fast transfer spreed. I want at least 4 docks so I can have 2 raid 1 configurations. i ant to be able to have access to the data all over the world. So which Synology fullfill this best. Don't want to higher specs than i need.

I read you can you host your website from a NAS so I don't need a website hosting priver anymire. How does this work, have no clue ??? Do I need additional software ? The website is designed with Freeway 5.5 pro.

Just a tip : never buy from Lacie, those f....... throw away my backup disk which I send them together with a failure disk !!!!